Tyrion Lannister
Character and Appearance Tyrion is shrewd, educated, and calculating, but receives little respect for this from his father, because of his deformity, and the death of his mother during his birth. 2 He is capable of cruelty to his enemies, but also has great sympathy for fellow outcasts and the mistreated. 3 Tyrion gets on well with his brother Jaime but has a cooler relationship with sister Cersei. Tyrion’s deformity was the cause of many problems and persecution, although mitigated to some extent by his high social standing and his family’s wealth and power. Tyrion is a dwarf, he has stubby legs, a jutting forehead, mismatched eyes of green and black, and lank, white-blonde hair. 4 Later, he grows a beard, which contains both blonde and black hair. 5 After the Battle of the Blackwater, Tyrion has a grisly facial scar that has removed most of his nose. 6 History Tyrion was born as the third child of Tywin and Joanna Lannister when his two older siblings, Cersei and Jaime, were already nine years old. His mother died giving birth to him, and as a result his father blamed him for her death and hates him for that and for his deformity. Tyrion finds himself excluded from regular family life, especially by his father and by his sister, who abused him during his childhood. When Tyrion was thirteen, he and his brother Jaime rescued a common girl, Tysha, from some bandits. While Jaime went after the bandits Tyrion took care of Tysha. To his amazement Tysha liked him, and they eventually made love. Tyrion became so enamoured by her that he bribed a septon and married her in secret. Their happiness lasted only two weeks, however, before Tyrion’s father got news of the wedding. Lord Tywin commanded Jaime to say that Tysha was a prostitute whom Jaime had hired for Tyrion’s benefit. Because the “whore” had presumed to marry a Lannister, Tywin had his entire guard rape Tysha for a silver each and then made Tyrion go last for a gold coin, because a Lannister is worth more. 7 After his brother’s proposed marriage to Lysa Tully fell through when Aerys named Jaime to the Kingsguard, Tywin offered Tyrion as a replacement, only to be told by Hoster Tully that his daughter required a “whole man”. 8 When Tyrion became a man at sixteen, he was forbidden from taking a tour of the Nine Free Cities as his uncles Gerion and Tygett had done. Instead Tywin gave him charge of all the cisterns and drains at Casterly Rock. 9 Recent Events A Game of Thrones Tyrion goes north to Winterfell as part of King Robert’s royal procession. 10 After Bran Stark’s fall, Tyrion makes Joffrey offer his sympathies to Bran’s parents, though his nephew only obeys after Tyrion hits him. 11 Suspicious of the accident, Tyrion took notice of his siblings’ reactions to the news that Bran is expected to survive. 11 When the royal family leaves Winterfell, Tyrion rides north to see the Wall before returning south. He joins the ranger Benjen Stark and new recruit Jon Snow for the journey and is accompanied by two guards, Jyck and Morrec. While at the Wall, Tyrion sees firsthand the poor state of the Night’s Watch; 12 it is dwindling in numbers, ranging parties are going missing more often than usual, and wildlings are fleeing south like never before. He is implored by Lord Commander Jeor Mormont to make King Robert and his father, Lord Tywin, aware of the Watch’s needs. During his time at the Wall, Tyrion befriends and advises Jon Snow. Tyrion sees himself as an outcast on similar ground as the bastard-born Snow and helps Jon cope with his identity and lot in life. Before Tyrion leaves the Wall, Jon asks him to help his brother Bran in the same way that he helped Jon; Tyrion promises to do so. 13 On his way back south, he stops at Winterfell. Despite initially receiving a hostile welcome from Robb Stark and an attack from the Stark direwolves at his arrival, Tyrion gives Maester Luwin plans for a special saddle that will allow Bran to ride a horse despite his disability and is offered rooms at Winterfell. He declines, choosing to stay at an inn nearby. 3 On his way back to King’s Landing Tyrion encounters Catelyn Stark at a roadside inn called the Crossroads. Unknown to Tyrion, Catelyn was told by Petyr Baelish that the dagger used in Bran’s failed assassination attempt belonged to Tyrion. As a result, Catelyn, with the help of some of her father’s bannermen present at the inn, arrests Tyrion and takes him to the Eyrie to be tried. 1415 There, Lysa Arryn puts him on trial for the crime of sending an assassin to end Bran’s life, as well as the murder of her husband Jon Arryn, though he is innocent of both. To break him, Lysa locks him up in the sky cells, which are prison cells with a floor slanted toward an exposed cliff side. While confined in the sky cell, Tyrion wonders about who the true perpetrators of his accused crimes could be. He thinks it possible that his siblings were responsible for both, but that Bran’s assassination attempt seems too clumsily done to be Jaime or Cersei’s work. Tyrion eventually manages to bribe his gaoler Mord into telling Lysa that he is ready to confess. When Lysa summons the complete court of the Vale to hear his confession, he demands a trial by combat. 16 Tyrion’s champion, the sellsword Bronn, kills Lysa’s champion Ser Vardis Egen, securing Tyrion’s freedom. 17 Both men leave the Eyrie on the dangerous High Road, and along the way they are surrounded by men of the mountain clans, led by Shagga. Tyrion uses his quick wits and words to win over the clansmen by promising them weapons, armor, and glory. 7 The group rides out of the mountains, eventually reaching the Lannister host led by his father, Lord Tywin, who has invaded the Riverlands following Tyrion’s capture. Lord Tywin decides to place Tyrion and his clansmen in the front for the upcoming battle with the Stark forces and Tyrion is given a number of new servants including a new squire, Podrick Payne. That night, he seds Bronn looking for a female companion for him, and Bronn brings back a young prostitute named Shae, whom Tyrion takes an immediate liking to and takes into his service. The next day, he fights in the Battle of the Green Fork against Stark forces commanded by Roose Bolton. 18 The battle is won, though afterward the Lannisters learn it was only a diversion and that meanwhile Jaime Lannister’s host was defeated at Riverrun and he himself was captured. Lord Tywin retreats to Harrenhal and sends Tyrion to King’s Landing to act as Hand of the King in his stead, to rein in his newly crowned nephew and prevent further mistakes from Joffrey like Eddard Stark’s execution, but forbids him from taking Shae along. Tyrion disobeys and Shae accompanies him in secret. 19 A Clash of Kings Tyrion, along with his mountain clansmen, Shae, and Bronn, arrives at King’s Landing and presents his father Tywin’s letter which names him the Hand of the King in his father’s absence, much to Cersei’s dismay. She threatens to name it a forgery and throw him in the dungeon, but Tyrion tells her that he can get Jaime back and Cersei concedes. She also admits she needs help and agrees to ally herself with Tyrion, though they both have no intention of keeping it. This leads to a power struggle between the two. Tyrion takes up residence in the Tower of the Hand and as his first act of business removes the heads of the executed Stark household from the walls of the Red Keep. 20 Tyrion forges an alliance with Varys who helps him to replace Janos Slynt with Ser Jacelyn Bywater as Commander of the City Watch and sends Slynt and a few of his cronies to the Wall. 21 Next he concocts a plan to weed out Cersei’s informants on the small council. He tells Petyr Baelish, Varys, and Grand Maester Pycelle each different plans that he has for Myrcella and Tommen; 22 when Cersei confronts him about the plan that he divulged to Pycelle, Tyrion knows that Pycelle is the informant. 23 Tyrion’s true plan is to send Myrcella to Dorne to be betrothed to Prince Trystane Martell. To further garner Dornish support, he offers Prince Doran Martell a seat on the small council and promises to turn over the men that murdered Doran’s sister Elia. 2223 For his part in giving Cersei private information, Pycelle is confined to the black cells beneath the keep. 24 With his place at court secure and successfully outsmarting Cersei at every turn, Tyrion begins a series of initiatives to prepare the city for the siege, commanding the construction of fishing boats. He also opens the Kingswood for hunting and sends gold cloaks out to forage, but this is still not enough to feed the overcrowded city. He commands the blacksmiths around the city to begin construction on a giant chain which will allow him to close the Blackwater Rush. He also has Hallyne of the Alchemists’ Guild synthesize a large quantity of wildfire. Eventually, he sends his clansmen to the Kingswood to snuff out outriders and scouts loyal to Stannis. Tyrion sets Shae up in a manse outside the Red Keep to keep her existence in King’s Landing a secret. 21 Varys, however, knows her location, and helps Tyrion use Chataya’s brothel as a front. Once inside the brothel, Tyrion passes through a tunnel that takes him to a location where he can safely travel to Shae’s manse without being followed. 25 She is restless there, however, and wishes to see more of court. Following the riot of King’s Landing, Tyrion moves Shae to the Red Keep for her safety in the guise of Lollys’s maid. 26 Tyrion’s cousin, Ser Cleos Frey, brings peace terms from Robb Stark, asking that Sansa and Arya Stark be released (although Arya is not, in fact, held at King’s Landing) in exchange for all captives save Jaime, and that Joffrey renounce all claims to the North and Riverlands. 27 Tyrion deems the terms unacceptable 23 and sends Cleos back with the counter-offer that he will release Sansa and Arya along with a number of captive Stark bannermen in return for Robb’s fealty and Jaime’s release, setting up an escape plan for Jamie to be orchestrated by men in Cleos’s party. 24 Tyrion is also visited by Ser Alliser Thorne of the Night’s Watch, who has brought with him the severed hand of a wight from the Wall, but it rots away before he can present it. Ser Alliser is mocked by Tyrion and the court, but is promised his pick of the city’s dungeons as recruits. 2224 When Renly Baratheon is murdered, Tyrion seizes the opportunity to bring the Tyrells to the Lannister cause. He sends Petyr Baelish to treat with the Tyrells and offers Joffrey in marriage to Margaery Tyrell. 28 Tyrion continues to thwart Cersei’s plans, including one to send a disguised Tommen to Rosby to remove him from the reach of the mobs and Tyrion. 26 On one occasion Tyrion drugs her so that she will not be able to attend the small council. 2224 In retaliation Cersei has Alayaya, who she believes is Tyrion’s whore, seized and beaten, offering her freedom in return for custody over Tommen. Tyrion is furious and swears to take from Cersei everything she cares about. 29 When Stannis’s forces attack King’s Landing, later called the Battle of the Blackwater, Tyrion sets in place a giant chain in Blackwater Bay which traps many ships, Lannister and Baratheon alike. The wildfire commissioned from the Alchemists is then launched at the ships and they are trapped in the bay to burn. 30 During the battle, Tyrion is forced to lead a sortie out past the city walls because Sandor Clegane, terrified of fire, refuses to do so. 31 Tyrion heads his men in a wedge formation dispersing the men assaulting the King’s Gate. He then continues with his men to hold the men crossing over a makeshift bridge made of of sinking galleys of Stannis’s fleet in the river. During the battle Ser Mandon Moore of the Kingsguard turns on Tyrion and tries to kill him, slicing off his nose, but Tyrion is saved by his squire Podrick Payne before Moore could finish him. 32 Tyrion passes out and wakes up in bed some time after the battle, suffering from serious facial wounds and the loss of most of his nose. 33 Tyrion suspects that Cersei was behind the assassination attempt. A Storm of Swords Tyrion makes a complete recovery some weeks later, only to learn that Lord Tywin had taken all the glory and taken over as Hand. Tyrion finds himself demoted to Master of Coin, replacing Petyr Baelish and forced into a political marriage with Sansa Stark to forestall a Tyrell move to marry her to Willas Tyrell. 8 The wedding to Sansa goes forward, though Tyrion chooses to defy custom and does not consummate their marriage, saying he will not touch her unless and until she wants him to. His father pushes him to consummate the marriage with Sansa for the good of the house, but Tyrion never does - a decision that earns him scorn and jest in court. 34 Tyrion’s marriage brings him no joy, as Sansa is repulsed by him and Shae remains indifferent.35 At King Joffrey’s wedding feast, Tyrion gets into an altercation with Joffrey, and soon afterwards the king is murdered, an act for which Tyrion is unjustly accused and arrested by command of Cersei. 36 Tyrion again stands trial for a crime he did not commit. During the trial, Cersei brings Ser Osmund Kettleblack, who lies that Joffrey believed Tyrion meant to muder him; Grand Maester Pycelle claims that Tyrion stole poison from him and Shae is brought to humiliate him before the court. After the first day the situation seems hopeless, but Tyrion again seeks trial by combat after Prince Oberyn Martell visits his cell and offers to serve as his champion in the trial. In the trial, Prince Oberyn Martell stands against Gregor Clegane, but fails to win, although not without mortally wounding him first. 2 Oberyn’s death condemns Tyrion, but the night before he is to be executed, he is freed from his prison cell by his brother Jaime and a reluctant Varys. During their escape, Jaime reveals that their father made him lie about Tysha being a prostitute, and that she was just a peasant girl who had genuinely loved Tyrion. Tyrion sees this admission as an unforgivable betrayal and abandons Jaime, promising retribution. Before leaving the Red Keep, Tyrion visits his father’s room and, finding Shae in his bed, strangles her. He then confronts his father, demanding he tell him what became of Tysha. Tywin tells Tyrion that she went “wherever whores go.” Tyrion then slays his father and escapes. 37 He flees across the Narrow Sea to an unknown destination chosen by Varys. After his escape, Cersei offers a lordship for any that brings her Tyrion. A Feast of Crows Tyrion remains in his flight across the Narrow Sea. He is regarded by most as accursed as a kinslayer and Kingslayer, although he is guilty of only the former. Meanwhile, in King’s Landing, Cersei’s bounty on Tyrion results in the killing of a number of innocent dwarfs and children. A Dance with Dragons Tyrion flees across the Narrow Sea, pondering his options. Tyrion arrives drunk and despondent at the manse of Illyrio Mopatis in Pentos. 38 There Illyrio tells Tyrion of Daenerys Targaryen and her three dragons. He then sends Tyrion, along with retainers Griff, Young Griff, Ser Rolly Duckfield, Septa Lemore, and Haldon, called Halfmaester, aboard the ship Shy Maid to Volantis. During the trip, he assumes the aliases Yollo and Hugor Hill. 39 In Volantis, they plan to meet up with Daenerys to strengthen her cause. En route, Tyrion realizes that Griff is in fact the exiled lord Jon Connington, and Young Griff is Aegon Targaryen, saved from the Sack of King’s Landing. During the journey, the boat is ambushed by stone men and Tyrion is knocked overboard; he would have drowned had Jon Connington not dived in to save him. 40 While in Selhorys, Tyrion (under Haldon’s direction) plays a game of Cyvasse with Qavo Nogarys, a customs offical, in order to gain information. Tyrion later visits a brothel, a modest one compared to those he he had been wont to frequent in Lannisport and King’s Landing, where he is recognized and captured by Ser Jorah Mormont. 41 Jorah plans to bring Tyrion to Daenerys to regain her favor. Jorah takes him to the Widow of the Waterfront to try and arrange passage out of Volantis. There Tyrion meets a female dwarf performer named Penny who, upon learning that Tyrion was indirectly responsible for her brother Oppo’s death, tries to kill him. 42 Penny joins the pair as they travel to Meereen by sea aboard the Selaesori Qhoran, where the crew take to calling him No-Nose, to reach Daenerys. On the ship Penny eventually befriends Tyrion. 43 While aboard the Selaesori Qhoran, Tyrion makes the acquaintance of Moqorro. One night Tyrion asks him what he sees in the flames. Moqorro replies dragons, adding: “ Dragons old and young, true and false, bright and dark. And you. A small man with a big shadow, snarling in the midst of it all. ” Tyrion wonders if he may be seeing Penny in the flames as they are almost of size, Moqorro tells him no. Soon, however, Tyrion, Penny, and Mormont are captured by a Yunkai’i slaver and bought by Yezzan zo Qaggaz. They are instructed by his overseer Nurse on how to treat their new master. 44 Tyrion and Penny are forced to perform a mock joust in the fighting pits, not knowing that they were to be eaten by lions at the end of the show. Daenerys Targaryen, for whom the show was staged, learns of their impending fate and stops the lions from being released. 45 After their new master dies of the bloody flux the trio escapes. Tyrion arranges for the three to join the sellsword company the Second Sons, under the command of Brown Ben Plumm, by promising the company the wealth of Casterly Rock. 4647 While the Sons’ current contract is to fight Daenerys, Tyrion hopes to win them to her side. Relationships Tywin Lannister Tyrion has a difficult relation with his father. His mother died giving birth to Tyrion, something his father never forgave him. 6 When his father found out Tyrion had married Tysha, he had her raped by his guardsmen and finally by Tyrion himself to teach them a lesson. 7 Her memory haunted him for a very long time 48 and he began to seek his pleasure with prostitutes. 21 To his father this brought further shame on their house. 6 Tyrion himself has thought about killing his father. 7 When Tyrion was kidnapped by Catelyn Tully, his father invaded the Riverlands not out of concern for Tyrion but to defend the honour of their house. Later he had Tyrion fight in the vanguard at the Battle of the Green Fork which made Tyrion suspect that his father would not have been unhappy to see him killed.18 Though their relation is bad, his father recognized his capacities enough to send him to King’s Landing to act as Hand of the King in his stead. 19 Tyrion did well, keeping the Dornish neutral and building a chain across the Blackwater river to trap Stannis’ fleet, something his father acknowledged. As a reward Tyrion asked to be named Tywin’s heir, which he was under the laws as Jaime had joined the Kingsguard and thus was unable to inherit. His father flatly refused, saying that he would never allow Tyrion to make Casterly Rock his whorehouse. 6 After Joffrey’s death, Cersei accused Tyrion of murdering him. Tywin formed a court to sit in judgement of his son. Tyrion demanded a trial by battle and when his champion lost his father sentenced him to death though it is not clear if Tywin really thought Tyrion was guilty. Jaime freed Tyrion the night before his execution. He told him this was to make up for lying to Tyrion that Tysha had been a whore who was after riches while she had been what she claimed to be: a common girl and in love with Tyrion. Armed with this knowledge Tyrion visited his father and found him with Shae, Tyrion’s formed mistress. Tyrion killed them both. 37 Cersei Lannister Cersei Lannister is Tyrion’s older sister and has always despised him. When Oberyn Martell and his sister Elia Martell visited Casterly Rock in their teens, they were shown the newborn baby Tyrion by both Jaime and Cersei. Cersei twisted Tyrion’s penis until he cried, only stopping when Jaime intervened. When she read how Baelor the Blessed imprisoned his sisters for being beautiful, Cersei went to Tyrion’s nursery and pinched him till he cried. Cersei’s cruelty to Tyrion only increased when she heard the prophecy of Maggy the Frog and the meaning of the word “Valonquar” (high valyrian for Little Brother). She never kept her hatred for Tyrion a secret and made him aware of it throughout his life, and Tyrion returned her hatred in kind, developing a deep contempt for Cersei. Tyrion even dreamed of hiring a Faceless Man to kill his sister. 26 The only thing that kept the two from harming each other was Jaime. Cersei once stated that she would have killed Tyrion but Jaime would never have forgiven her if she did 29 and Tyrion would not have harmed Cersei because he loves his brother Jaime and knows how much Cersei means to him. The ironic thing is if Cersei had only ever treated Tyrion with even a little love and respect (a thing Tyrion craves for, especially from his family), Tyrion would return this with utter devotion and love to Cersei, the same he feels for his brother Jaime. Unknown to Tyrion is that every time Cersei see’s Tyrion or thinks of him all she remember is the prophecy of Maggy the Frog. When Joffrey was murdered, Cersei falsely believed Tyrion was responsible and did everything in her power to see him die, even getting his former whore Shae to lie and humiliate her “Valonquar” further before his death. When Tyrion escaped and killed Tywin, Cersei now sees him in every shadow. She offered a lordship to any man who killed Tyrion resulting in the mass murder of innocent dwarfs and small children. In addition, Cersei will not punish any man who kills an innocent dwarf as she believes it might make the next man hesitate. Cersei upon hearing about Mrycella’s injury at the hands of Gerold Dayne believed Dayne was Tyrion’s catspaw and Tyrion had him cut off Myrcella’s ear the way an agent of Cersei (Mandon Moore) once cut off Tyrion’s nose. With her Uncle Kevan now dead by the crossbow bolt (unknown to Cersei is the fact Kevan was killed by Varys), Cersei will most likely believe Tyrion killed Kevan the same way he killed their father and will see even more of him in the shadows and in her nightmares. Tyrion also remarks on his journey that the only reward he will ask from Daenerys Targaryen for his service is the right to rape and kill Cersei. Jaime Lannister Jaime Lannister is Tyrion’s older brother. Growing up Jaime was the only one who ever treated Tyrion with love and affection and for this Tyrion believed he would forgive his brother for anything. 11 Jaime was full of guilt over the lie their father had him tell Tyrion about Tysha, as Jaime was unaware of what his father planned and upon hearing about it lives with further guilt. The guilt had Jaime free his brother even when he was not sure of Tyrion’s innocence in the murder of his son Joffrey. Upon freeing his brother, Jaime finally confessed the truth about Tysha causing an enraged Tyrion to reveal to Jaime the truth about Cersei’s infidelity towards Jaime and Tyrion also (falsely) told Jaime he did indeed kill his son Joffrey just to further hurt Jaime. Tyrion mentioned to Illyrio Mopatis that Jaime and Cersei are his to kill. Despite this statement Tyrion while having no doubt about his desire to kill and hurt Cersei still harbours mixed feelings towards Jaime. His Uncles From all reports, Tyrion got on well with all of his Uncles, Gerion, Tygett and Kevan. Gerion and Tygett once asked Tyrion what gift he would like for his next nameday, Tyrion asked for a baby dragon and Tygett kindly told Tyrion that all the dragons were extinct and was careful not to hurt his nephew’s feelings. When Tyrek Lannister disappeared in the riots of King’s Landing, Tyrion instructed the watch that the lad was to be found alive or dead as his father (Tygett) was always kind to Tyrion. Gerion gifted Tyrion with the Books Wonders and Wonders Made by Man by Lomas Longstrider and often had Tyrion recite the sixteen wonders of the World. Tyrion wished to accompany his uncle Gerion on his quest to find and retrieve Brightroar but his father would not allow him. Until Tyrion was accused of killing Joffrey, Kevan Lannister was respectful to Tyrion and was one of the few after his injuries during the battle of the Blackwater to praise him and his abilities. Tysha Tysha was Tyrion’s first wife. For decades Tyrion believed she was a whore who his brother hired so Tyrion could experience his first woman. Because of this he thought women would only want him for his money. 20 When Jaime rescued Tyrion from his cell he told him the truth: Tysha was a girl chance met on the road. As she had seemed to genuinely love Tyrion, he became furious with his brother. In retalliation Tyrion told Jaime that Cersei bedded others and that he had killed Jaime’s son. The later part was not true but was said to hurt Jaime. 37 Shae Shae was Tyrion’s whore who he began, despite his better judgement, to develop feelings towards. In order to protect Shae, Tyrion enlisted Varys help in creating an alias of Shae as a bedmaid. Tyrion reminded himself on several occasions that the only thing Shae loved about him was his gold. It turns out his assessment was correct, as Shae testified against him in his trial falsely (under Cersei’s direction) claiming Tyrion planned to kill the King, his father and his sister and seize the throne for himself. 37 When Tyrion escaped his dungeon he went to his fathers chamber. There he found Shae in his father’s bed. He killed her and later his father. 37 This page uses content from a wiki of ice and fire. The original content was at http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Tyrion_Lannister. 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